Dialyzer



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schlimm (Cl.zieA-azsif mventlon'rentesto amm spoel-stm yfor recoveringsodium hydroxide or caustic soda from liquor other processes.

A- primary object of the inventionis to 'an apparatusscomprising a unit whichf'may be usedin multiple to provide an apparatusfoifthe desired capacity andwherein each unit provides for a positive-circulationcf the recovery water- `and the caustic thereby to increasetheY rate oi o! frames so constru as'to provide alternate water and'caustic cells. which cells, are connected .water-and caustic to circulate these'twow'uidsin opposite directions in adjacent cells, and also provide. for their recirculation n ions as desired to increase osmosic eiiiciency. The pumpso! the several units maybe connected in series so that the water may be suppliedatone end o! thel apparatus and the caustic atl theotherand caused 'to flowin opposite directions thpushoilt .the apparatusso that the caustic and water 'counter y to each otherwith respect wall of the units.

A further object o! the 'invention is to provide a novelcell construction whichassists in preventing the-billowing oi the membrane andalso directsthe fluid passingthrmlgh thecellin such aljnanner as yto eilectively* bring itt-into contact with. a maximum area oi the membrane;

Withthe above and 'other obiectsin view which wil1.more readily appear as thenaturefoi the invention'is better understood,'the same consists 35 in the novel construction, combination and ars Figures is a transverse sectional view taken on y the nn'e z-a or mure 1.

Figure .4 is a detail perspective view o i one ofthetransverseiiuiddimisingbarausedinthew,

rtrames whichcomprise thecells are provided with cells, and parts o! the hars which assist in guiding. the iluid'through the cell as well as preventing stiel-e s is a detail diagrammatic view musithe manner oi'operating the. pump driv-.

l tra.. ing ts at opposite sides o! the apparatus.

`The apparatus illustratedin the drawing inusedin connection `with textile or j ditional units'as the capacity oi the ape osmosic filtration.` In that connection the inven. paratus demands.

tion contemplatesy a unit comprising a plurality Y frames 'which provide water cells, whileV the`r "iramesjg l, l1 and" lprovide caustic cells.

ing suitablerubber gaskets I0 on opposite sidescaustic 'frame with gaskets. The osmosic membrane M is clampedjhetween adjacent trames to provide pump which may be a connected by longitudinal frame l". rne'nesd standards' hand-'wheel operated screw'means 8 tf mutable frames oi various units together in operative vf"remtnm the toot standard r.

lach oithe dialyzing units is oisimilar coni struction and therefore a description ot one will sumee for'snrjssld units 'consist or pluralityA theniimber may be `increased or diminished,

butin snrventt'ne frames 1.3. l. 1v and '9 are .f

" The' construction ofthe individual cells may be best ohse'rv' from Figures 2 .3 and 4. Referring ilrstl to4 Figure ;2 it may be observed that the water cell l comprises a rectangular metallic frame havthereof (Fig. 3)A to cooperate with an adjacent t' which may r'may n'ot be prothe desired 1 tzelljstxjucture An interior grid work is provided `within each o! the cells and accord-` ing .to theiilustration shown, the same preferably comprisesfupper, lower andintermediate transverse diffusing bars Il which are provided with av vplurality oispacedopenings Il'. Alternate openings receive the elongated iluid'guiding bars i3,

thus'gleaving intervening openings clear for the bodiment of thel 'passage off duid.' In pmeticetne amusing bers Il aren approximately wide andthebars ory Il vapproximately V4" square. "Ihe side ci the diiusing bars il assist in clamping `the{menlz'rane `transversely at spaced pointsv and the'vertical iiiiid guiding bars Il', in addition to ionning'uid guiding passages prevent the niembran'e trom yundue billowing, thus avoiding'breakage or 'rupture during the operation'oi the device. 1 further to Figures 1 and 2, more particularly the latter,"it`wil1 be Observed that the odset portions :c lwhich enable theiraxnes topensupportedfon the longitudinal sideirame members F2 oi the apparatus. Also. it may beobserved from Figure 2 that the frame I is provided at one side thereof with a water of any conventional type I5 cludesa frame comprising a root standard F and ior pressing the several i5 and has pressure and suction manifolds I5 and I6 connected therewith. 'Ihe pressure manifold Il communicates with a plurality of pipes or tubes II leading to the upper end of the water frames and the suction manifold I6 communicates Jwith a plurality of pipes or tubes I8 leading to the bottom of the water frames. It will thus be' apparent from Figure 2, which shows one cell, that when the pump I4 is in operation water supplied from the connection I5 (Fig. 1) will be forced upwardly through the tube I1 into the upper part of the water cell and will follow the course indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. The water will then descend between the uid guiding rods I3 and through the diffusing bars I I to the bottom of the cell from whence it is picked up by the tube Il and forced back into the suction manifold I6.

As will also be apparent from Figure 2 the caustic frame 6 which is located behind the water frame 5 is also provided with a pump I9 having a pressure manifold 20 at its lower side and a suction manifold Ziriat its upper side. When the pump is in operation, caustic will be `forced downwardly through the tube 23 to the bottom of the caustic cell Gand will be caused to flow upwardly I therein as indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 2.

The ascending caustic will be sucked froml the top of the cell 6 and back into the manifold 2| of the pump I9 through the tube 22. It will of course be understood that the pump. i9 is common to all of the caustic cells in each unit and that a separate set of circulating tubes 22cand 23 is"pro vided for each caustic cell. Y

The pumps I4 and I9, respectively,for water and caustic are the same at vboth sides of `the apparatus. That is to say there is one pump for each unit. However, the respective pumps are so arranged that the flow of fluids in adjacent cells is in opposite directions. Moreover, it may be pointed out at this time that the arrangement of connections between the water Apumps at one side of the apparatus and the caustic pumps at the other side are the same. However, as between the several units arranged in series the flow of caustic is countered by the flow of water inasmuch as the water is fed in at one end of the apparatus and caustic is supplied at the other.

Referring to Figure l it will be observed that each of the water pumps i4 having the manifolds I5 and I6, is placed in communication with a preceding pump by a transfer connection 23, the said connection leading from the pressure manifold I5 of one pump means to the suction manifold IB of an adjoining pump means. A suitable regulating valve 24 may be interposed in the transfer connec# tion so as to regulate the volume of flow in the several cells. Or, on the other hand the valve 24 may be manipulated so as to cause any selected pump to re-circulate its fluid medium Within an individual unit for the desired length of time.

All of the Water pumps I4 are operated by a common shaft 25 (Fig. 2) and likewise all of the caustic pumps I9 are operated by a common shaft 26 (at the opposite side of the machine shown in Fig. l). The shafts 25 and 26 are driven through a sprocket chain 21 or its equivalent powered by a suitable motor 28 located adjacent the foot stand ard F of the apparatus. It will thus be understood that all of the pumps (both I4 and I9) are simultaneously driven during the operation of theV seen from Figure 1 the water supply 30, which is connected with the manifold Il of the first water pump I4 by the connection I5, is provided with suitable float means to maintain the level of the water substantially in line with the upper ends of the vent tubes 29. At the opposite end of the apparatus the caustic supply 3| is provided withA float means for maintaining the level of caustic substantially in line with the top of the frame forming the caustic cells. Caustic is supplied through the piping connection 32 to the pressure manifold of the i'lrst caustic pump I9 on the side of the machine opposite the water pumps.

In operation water supplied from the source 30 is conveyed to the pressure manifold I5 of the first water pump I4 and circulated in each of the water frames I, 3, 5, 1 and 9 in the manner described. After water has been circulated in the first unit A it is transferred to the pump I4 of the unit A through the transfer connection 23 where the same water cycle is repeated in unit A'. 'Ihis action occurs in the water frames of all subsequent units in the series. The water which reclaims the caustic, or in other words, reclaimed solution, is conveyed by the pipe 33 to a recovery trap 34 located at the end of the apparatus opposite the source of water supply 30. 'l

On .the other hand caustic supplied from the source 3i through the pipe 32 is supplied to the pressure manifold 20 of the first caustic' pump I9, associated, for example, with the unit A2, to thus pump caustic into the caustic frames 8, 6,

4 and 2 which form the caustic cells oi the unit g f waste line 35 and waste trap 36.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present apparatusl provides for circulating water and caustic in opposite directions in adjacent cells ofeach unit. The effect of pump circulation in each unit is to thoroughly agitate both the water and the caustic so as to promote quick and efficient osmosic action. The water and caustic in each unit is then transferred to a succeeding unit in the line to further complete the osmosic action, and this series of operations is repeated until the highest or desired percentage of recovery is obtained. Apparatus in accordance with the present invention has not only a high fluid capacity which enables it to handle large volumes of both water and caustic but at the same time provides for the highest possible percentage of,caustic recovery. Thus, the present apparatus has considerable economic advantages and because of its simplicity of construction has manufacturing advantages which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a dialyzing apparatus, a series of dialyzer units,.each unit including a plurality of alternately arranged water and caustic cells, means for recirculating water and caustic in said cells, said means comprising a. water manifold for each unit including a pump and water connections communicating respectively with the upper and lower portions of each water cell, and a caustic manifold for each unit including a pump and caustic connections communicating respectively with the upper and lower portions of each caustic cell, said pumps in the water and caustic vmanifolds circulating water and caustic in opposite directions in the adjacent cells of each unit, and transfer pipes for conveying water and caustic from the said water and caustic.mani fold of each unit to the related manifold of an adjacent unit.

-2. In a dialyzing apparatus, a series of dialyzer units, each including `a plurality of alternately arranged water and caustic cells, a water pump for each unit having a pluralityv of individual pipes leading to the upper and lower portion of each water cell, a caustic pump for each unit having a plurality of individual pipes leading to the upper andlower portion of each caustic cell, transfer pipes connecting each water pump, other -transfer pipes connecting each caustic pump, and a valve in each of the transfer pipes for controllingv the recirculation of fluid in the individual cells lof each unit and the flow between adjacent units. A

3. In a dialyzing apparatus, a plurality of dialyzer units, each including, juxtaposed water and caustic frames having membranes therebetween forming alternate water and caustic cells, a pump at one side of each unit including a pressure manifold having separate pipe connections with the upper sides. of the water frames and also including a suction manifold having separate pipe connectionswith the lower sides of the water frames, a caustic pump at the other side of the unit and including a pressure manifold having separate pipe connections with the,"

lower side of the caustic frames and also include" connections with the upper side of the caustic frames, said pumps positively circulating water and caustic in opposite directions in alternate cells, and means for separately transferring water ing a suction manifold having separate` pipe.

and caustic from one unit of cells to anadjacent unit.

4. In a dialyzing apparatus, a plurality of dialyzer lunits arranged in a progressive series,

each unit rjincludin` groups of frames having membranes therebet een and forming alternate waterand caustic cells, separate caustic and Water pumps at opposite sides of each unit and each having pressure and suction pipe connections with each water and caustic cell, a source of caustic supply-at one endof the apparatus, a source of water supply at the other Vend of the apparatus, valved transfer connections between all of the-caustic pumps at one side of the units to establish communication between the source of caustic supply and all of the caustic cells of the units to transferv caustic from one unit to the next for recirculation, valved transfer connections between-all ofthe water pumps at the other side of the units to establish communication betweenithe source of waterv supply and all of tliewater cells of the units, means for oper'-k ating lth `vcaustic pumps and the water pumps to causejthe ilow,l of caustic and water in oppositef` rection's throughout vthev apparatus, means for Sicollecting .reclaimed caustic, and means for conveying waste jfrom the apparatus.

HILTON w. CASEY* 

